Telling your witness to look at the jurors during their
testimony without teaching them how to do so can be fatal to your case.
A scared, anxious witness may only dare a quick terrified
glance mid-sentence at the jurors, which confirms in the jurors’ minds that yes,
this witness is surely hiding something. So much for the witness’s credibility.
Or a witness may attempt to “duke it out” during cross by
glaring at the jurors during their response, rather than focusing on opposing
counsel. This does not benefit your case.
Help your witness look at the jury in a way that enhances
their credibility even as it satisfies jurors’ need to see the witness’s eyes
to determine veracity. Which, as many of us will remember, is why our mothers
would say: “Look me in the eyes when you’re talking to me!”
During direct, suggest that your witness, when they have a
response of a couple of sentences or more, begin their answer by looking at
you, then turn out to the jurors and look at different jurors during the bulk
of their response, to conclude their response by turning back to you during the
last few words. If the witness can angle their body very slightly towards the
jury box, then turning out towards the jurors is smoother. All this sounds
easy, and certainly becomes easy, but only with practice.
I have found video-recorded role-play to be the most
effective way to help witnesses get comfortable with turning to the jurors.
It’s best to do this during direct, because during cross, the witness will
rarely be given an opportunity to respond with more than a few words, and
focusing on opposing counsel is their primary responsibility at that point.
“Look at the jurors,” yes, is a critical and essential
instruction, but how it is done can make all the difference to your case.